Audit: Struggling Ill. airport again posts loss

By The ASSOCIATED PRESS

Oct. 9, 2013

MASCOUTAH – A southwestern Illinois airport that has never turned a profit since opening with great fanfare 15 years ago continues to lose money.

The Belleville News-Democrat reportED an audit shows the St. Clair County-owned MidAmerica St. Louis Airport last year suffered a $3.8 million loss. That's despite boosting revenue by $2.2 million from additional capital funding from the Federal Aviation Administration and the state.

The airport near Mascoutah got $5.6 million in county money to subsidize its operations. That brings to $28.7 million the county has funneled into the airport over the past five years.

J.W. Boyle & Co. auditors anticipate the county will continue to subsidize the airport "in the near future."

MidAmerica has struggled since opening in 1998, and critics persistently have labeled it a $330 million boondoggle.